France

ÉCU festival just finished last week with great success and we are already preparing the next edition! While waiting for this, Here at ÉCU, We have compiled a list of things to do in May in Paris to enjoy the arrival of sunny days! 1. The festival Villette Sonique, 25- 30 of May With […]

Whether you idolize him, vilify him, or are torn about your views on him — there is no denying that Abdellatif Kechiche has made a profound and lasting mark on the French filmmaking world. With his characteristically long yet ambitious takes, his search for beauty in realism, and his passionate political engagement, Kechiche has become […]

Like a delicious camembert with honey, the film Visages Villages (Faces Places) was definitely cheesy but pleasantly sweet at the same time. We follow the unlikely duo of director Agnès Varda and artist JR, as they travel throughout France, capturing the faces of those they encounter. The project all began in 2015, when Agnès […]

ÉCU-ON-THE-ROAD IS HEADING TO ÅRHUS – THE EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF CULTURE 2017 ÉCU – The European Independent Film Festival will be screening a selection of the World’s best independent short films at Super8000 Film Festival on the 27th October 2017 in Århus, Denmark. The Super8000 festival and The European Independent Film Festival’s – Special Selection screening […]

Similar to the Black Mirror episode “Nosedive,” Ingrid Goes West (Matt Spicer, 2017) is a sardonic take on millennials’ obsession with social media. Its protagonist Ingrid Thorburn (Aubrey Plaza) is an Instagram fanatic who feeds on illusions of closeness with the online glamor queens she follows. Feeling spurned when she is not invited to one of their […]

Stella Meghie (JEAN OF THE JONESES) offers a garden-variety teen romance in her second directorial work, Everything, Everything, following the release of her widely applauded debut feature which explores the chaotic dramatics that follow a large Jamaican-American family in a riotously droll, sharply illuminating generational drama. Although her follow up project is equally audacious in […]

Taylor Sheridan’s latest crime thriller is one of the rare films in mainstream cinema to address the ongoing epidemic of sexual violence on Indian reservations. Set on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, it recounts the rape and death of a young Native American woman Natalie Hanson (Kelsey Chow), whose body is found frozen in the […]

Jean-Pierre Jeunet is one of the most successful French directors of the modern era. His distinctive, whimsical style that can be described as a throwback to cinematic impressionism renders his oeuvre instantly recognizable. Of the several unique trademarks which characterize his films – including a focus on objects, the creation of quirky characters and the […]

Français So the summer has started, it’s the time of ice cream, outdoor festivals, picnics in the park and…rain? Yeah, it’s miserable here in Paris but that doesn’t mean that you have to be miserable too. There’s plenty to do in Paris, and even if events are a bit muddy, you can have a great […]

Français So while ÉCU 2016 may have wrapped up its 11th edition in Paris and we’re already feeling very nostalgic about the festival, we’re making up for it with sun, sea and sand with fellow filmmakers in Cannes from the 11th to the 22nd May. However, for those who can’t join us to forget all troubles in the […]

The sun is bona fide out here in Paris; spring feels officially underway. It’s about time the City of Lights got a little warmth after the brouhaha that was the 2016 ÉCU – The European Independent Film Festival. Our 11th edition is officially done and won. Over half of our winning directors were in show, […]

“I don’t know what is in store for the movie business any better than anybody else does, but it does seem like my kind of movies are a little trickier than it used to be – or maybe a lot trickier.” Wes Anderson In contrast to most blockbuster films today, it is impossible to to […]

Let’s give it up for the good guys capable of keeping their heads above water in the ugliness of the corporate rat race. If everyone had a dollar for each time a decent person got lost in the hustle that is corporate life, we’d all be rich by now. Jerry Maguire of the eponymous film […]